


Voussoir

by setissma



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-02
Updated: 2018-02-02
Packaged: 2019-03-12 12:35:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13547442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/setissma/pseuds/setissma
Summary: “So,” Draco said. “Are you coming over?”He was leaning against the bar, watching Harry across the room.“I don’t know,” Hermione said. “Are you asking?”





	Voussoir

“So,” Draco said. “Are you coming over?” 

He was leaning against the bar, watching Harry across the room.

“I don’t know,” Hermione said. “Are you asking?”

Draco finished his beer. “I might be,” he said. “If I have another drink, I’ll definitely be drunk enough to suggest it.”

“You do know you don’t actually need a pretense, don’t you?” Hermione said, amused.

“My pretense is that Harry pointed out that you look good in that sundress, and I’m not entirely sure I agree,” Draco said, glancing over at her. “I’m not saying he’s wrong, I just happen to think you’d look better out of it.”

“I think you just like flirting with me,” Hermione said, laughing.

“Maybe a little,” Draco said, with a grin. “Is that a yes?”

“You have to buy me another drink first,” Hermione said. “I think that’s how it usually works.”

“Done,” Draco said. “I should probably go tell Harry he has better plans than talking to Quidditch players.”

“He has until I finish my drink, otherwise we’re leaving and starting without him,” Hermione said.

“Now he’s going to stall,” Draco said. “He likes walking in on us. Or he thinks we need the warm up on our own.”

“You should remind him that there’s really no point to threeways if they only involve two people,” Hermione said.

“I think that’s just sex,” Draco said. “It’s not like that’s a terrible outcome or anything.”

“I’m not really going to complain, no,” Hermione said. “But it’s more fun if he’s around.”

“You’re very demanding,” Draco teased. “Get whatever you want, I’ll go get him.”

“Now I’m just going to order three-hundred-year-old scotch.”

“You hate scotch,” Draco said. “And there’s no such thing.”

“Damn, you’re on to me,” Hermione said, with a grin.

“Even odds on another glass of wine or a gin and tonic,” Draco said, dryly. “I’m not sure I’d call you wildly adventurous.”

“Oh, wouldn’t you?” Hermione said. “Maybe I should find someone else in this bar and take him home. We can have boring sex while drinking boring alcohol.”

“Very funny,” Draco said. “Let’s see if I can extract my boyfriend from the clutches of the Harpies.”

Draco stepped around a group of people playing siren darts and crossed to Harry, who was laughing at something the Magpies’ seeker had just said. He put a hand on his shoulder and leaned to murmur something in his ear, and Harry glanced over at her, then laughed again. He kissed Draco, then said something, and Draco rolled his eyes and came back over.

“He says go home and he’ll settle the tab in five minutes,” Draco said. “I’m starting to think he’s trying to get out of undressing other people.”

“It’s like he thinks he can’t watch if he’s there already,” Hermione said, thoughtfully. “Or maybe it really is the clothes thing. He gets distracted.”

“I also get distracted,” Draco said. “But at least I try.”

“You also usually don’t forget magic exists,” Hermione said, nudging his shoulder with hers. “I think we might have been ruined by eleven years of having to button everything ourselves.”

“Damn, why didn’t I think of that when I was thirteen and being terrible about the superiority of purebloods?” Draco said. “It’s a really convincing argument.”

“Come on, he’s never coming home if we’re still here,” Hermione said.

The walk between the bar and Harry and Draco’s house was only five minutes, so they usually didn’t bother Apparating.

“Do you want my jacket?” Draco said.

“It’s April,” Hermione said. “If I catch hypothermia between here and your house, we have a serious problem.”

“I’m going to stop being nice to you,” Draco said, but he held the door for her after he’d undone all the locking spells.

“You should open a bottle of wine,” Hermione said, stepping closer. She slid a hand under his shirt and settled it against the small of his back, drawing him closer.

“Am I bringing that upstairs?” Draco said.

“I think we should stay dressed until Harry shows up,” Hermione said, with a grin. “Messing with him is worth waiting ten minutes.”

“Says you,” Draco said. He kissed her. “I like the original plan.”

“We could always just go fool around on the couch,” Hermione said.

“No, if we’re doing it, we’re not doing it halfway,” Draco said. “Go get out the chess set, I’ll get your wine.”

Fifteen minutes later, she heard the front door, then Harry on the steps upstairs. He got halfway before he turned around, leaning around the bannister.

“What are you _doing_?” he said.

“Strip chess,” Draco said. “Unfortunately, Hermione’s actually good at chess, so we’re only down her shoes and my belt.”

“And several dress buttons,” Hermione said. “I’m seducing his pieces. So far I’ve got the knights and half the pawns, I think it’s working.”

“I don’t know what to do with you two,” Harry said, coming over. He leaned over her shoulder, looking amused. “Does check mean you take all your clothes off and come upstairs? Pretend to be me, it usually only takes Draco five moves.”

Hermione laughed, turning to kiss him. “We can leave it,” she said. “We’re just encouraging you to stop hanging around bars without us.”

“You might have noticed we stopped being overly polite with each other when you’re in the room,” Draco said. “Approximately, I don’t know, eight or nine months ago.”

“Thanks for letting us get used to it, but I’m pretty sure we’re used to it,” Hermione said, dryly.

“Okay, okay,” Harry said, holding his hands up. “It’s kind of a turn-on, though.”

“You’re perfectly welcome to lounge around on the other half of the bed while we have sex if you want,” Draco said.

“Hmm, pass,” Harry said, with a grin. “I can see down Hermione’s dress, I want in on that.”

“You make the craziest requests,” Hermione said, fisting a hand in his shirt to pull him in so she could kiss him again, harder this time.

“Oh, no,” Harry said. “You have to keep your mouth to yourself until we get upstairs. The couch doesn’t work with three people.”

“I know we only do this once in a while,” Draco said, thoughtfully. “But I feel like that would definitely be a good excuse for a new couch.”

“You two can stay here and talk about new furniture, I’m going upstairs,” Hermione said.

“On second thought, never mind,” Draco said.

A few hours later, Hermione was trying to look under the bed without falling off it. “Seriously, where’s your shirt? My dress is in the hall.”

“I think it ended up on the stairs,” Harry said, drowsily. “Why the hell are you trying to get dressed?”

“I’m starving,” she said. “I was going to suggest getting dinner after the bar, but someone had better ideas.”

“Draco’s is on that chair,” Harry said.

“Cute,” Hermione said. “We both know there’s no way in hell I can button myself into his.”

“You can’t blame me for trying,” Harry said, with a grin. He rolled out of bed, disappearing into the closet, then tossed a t-shirt at her head. “Here. We can go find leftover takeout.”

“I think I know who did the shopping this week, you never buy real food,” Hermione said, pulling on his shirt. Harry was getting into his jeans. “Is he totally down for the count?”

“Completely,” Harry said, wryly. “He stayed awake for about five minutes this time, I think it’s a record.”

“Probably,” Hermione agreed.

“I’m trying to get him to stop staying up until three in the morning working on blueprints,” Harry said. “He claims there are deadlines. I don’t think wizarding mansions are going to crumble and fall to pieces without really tasteless additions.”

“You have absolutely no room to talk when it comes to working too much,” Hermione said, heading down the stairs. “You’re worse than he is.”

“Maybe,” Harry said. “Okay, definitely. But I worry about him.”

“And we worry about you,” Hermione said. “Do you want something?”

“I know you, that’s a trick,” Harry said. “If I say yes, you’ll make me heat everything up.”

“I’ll do it,” Hermione said, hitting his shoulder.

“In that case, yeah, I’m hungry,” Harry said.

“I lied, you can do it,” Hermione said, with a grin. She hopped up on the counter.

“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood,” Harry said, going to open the fridge. “There’s Thai and Italian and – seriously, who actually likes eating salads? We’ve got two of those. Draco’s weird.”

“I’ll take the Italian,” Hermione said. “I think I burned too many calories tonight for salad.”

“I should have sold that harder, I wouldn’t have had to heat it,” Harry said. He found two plates and dished out the food, then cast a warming spell at it.

“Thanks for the Herculean effort,” Hermione said. “I can tell it was really a challenge.”

“You’re lucky I put up with you,” Harry said, coming over to stand between her knees. “I helped you save the world _one_ time, and now I’m stuck making food forever. It’s really unfair.”

“I think that was more than once,” Hermione said, laughing when he started to nuzzle her neck. “And I’m pretty sure it was you doing all the world saving.”

“Yeah, no,” Harry said, kissing her. “I’m fully aware of exactly how far I’d have gotten on any of that without you. I’d have been toast as a first year.”

“You’re in a weird mood,” Hermione said, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. “Everything okay?”

“Work’s been kind of rough,” Harry said. “I miss having you and Ron as back up.”

“Hey, you always have me as back up,” Hermione said, gently. “Ron too. You know we’ll show up if you need us.”

“I can’t exactly make either of you an Auror,” Harry said, quietly, but he’d relaxed a little.

“No, but you can owl me and tell me to show up in your office for lunch, I’m only three floors down,” she said. “Or I can come over while Draco’s on business trips, not that I don’t spend half my time here anyway.” She laughed, nudging him with her knee. “I guess if you get _really_ desperate I might be willing to have sex with you. That’s an option of last resort, though, it sounds terrible.”

“Mm, does it?” Harry said, kissing her neck. “Because I seem to recall something about you liking this counter.”

“I do like this counter,” Hermione agreed, wrapping her legs around him. “The angle’s good.”

“I watched you get dressed, you’re not wearing anything under that,” Harry murmured, sliding his hands up the outside of her thighs. “That fact might make me willing to admit that I’m really desperate.”

“Well, in that case,” Hermione said. 

She usually went home after, but it was Friday, which meant no one had to be up for work. And Draco made excellent waffles. She fell asleep on Harry’s other side, at least until the entire bedroom filled with loud shrieking at four in the morning.

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Harry said.

“Turn it _off_ ,” Draco grumbled, pulling a pillow over his head.

“I’m trying,” Harry said, reaching over Hermione to fumble at his bedside table.

“ _Lumos_ ,” she said, then found the crystal ball and dropped it into the pitcher of water Harry had been keeping there. The noise abruptly turned into very soft singing.

“Fucking Aurors,” Draco said, the pillow still over his head. “Why did they have to pick mermaids for your work alarm? Why do you even have a work alarm?” He made a disgusted noise and pulled the blankets over his head.

“Well, no one sleeps through it,” Hermione said.

“The phoenix one last month was worse, I left it in the kitchen and it grew like twelve potato plants in the pantry,” Harry said. “And it had to go into a candle to shut it up. I guess I have to head in. Someone had better be dead.”

“I can get up too,” Hermione said. “I’ll make some coffee.”

“No, don’t,” Harry said, leaning to kiss her quickly. “You should stay. Draco got everything for breakfast. I’m going to entertain the really slim hope that I might be back by then.”

“No, you won’t,” Draco said, his voice muffled. “I’m going to feed Hermione because she doesn’t have a horrible alarm. Now it’s _singing_.”

Hermione tried not to laugh.

“Go back to sleep,” Harry said, summoning it out of the pitcher. It kept singing, but it got even fainter. He pulled off Draco’s pillow to kiss the top of his head. “I love you.”

“I love you too, but only if you leave before it goes off again,” Draco said.

“Stay safe,” Hermione said. “Are you sure you don’t want coffee? I can always come back up here.”

“No, not happening,” Draco said, rolling to throw an arm over her. He buried his head against her shoulder. “Then you’re just going to wake me up again when you get back in bed.”

“If there isn’t any coffee there, there’s going to be more than one felony committed,” Harry said, disappearing into the closet to pull on a jumper. “I’ll be back at some point.”

“Owl if it’s going to be later than tonight,” Draco said. “And stop talking.”

Harry rolled his eyes, but he was already heading out the door and toward the stairs.

“Does it count as talking if I tell you your elbow is digging into my liver?” Hermione said.

“Yes,” Draco said, but he threw a leg over her instead and moved his arm. He usually slept on top of Harry, who presumably was used to it, but she had a feeling there was no way he was going back to the other half of the bed.

“Wake me up when there’s food,” Hermione said, with a yawn.

She woke up to Draco in the shower and vaguely considered joining him, but he shut off the water and got out before she could get around to it.

“Morning,” she said, not exactly awake.

“Hey,” Draco said. “I’m going to find clothes and get the food started. It’s all yours.”

“Why did I feel better about waking up at four?” Hermione muttered, pulling the blankets back up.

Draco laughed. “Because Harry was involved,” he said. “You go from pretty much dead to completely awake if it’s him. It’s probably some sleep-related version of Stockholm syndrome. Now the only incentive is waffles.”

“And bacon,” Hermione said. “I’m really not sure why I picked Harry to wake up over. Bacon’s better.”

“I’ll let him know you said so,” Draco said.

She managed to mostly wake up in the shower, although she was very glad Draco had made coffee instead of tea.

“Is this done enough for you?” he said, offering her a piece of sausage.

“Maybe another two minutes,” Hermione said, sitting on one of the bar stools with a yawn. Draco slid the sugar over.

“Did you two really not notice that you knocked everything off half the shelves in the pantry?” Draco said, sounding amused. “I’m mostly impressed, although I’m curious why you picked in there.”

“Er, sorry,” Hermione said. “We were in here, but I should probably have noticed the noise.”

“I think Harry keeps sneaking muffling charms on it because he likes knocking everything over while he’s trying to get crisps in the middle of the night,” Draco said. “Although I apparently need to stick some stabilizing spells on that wall if you’re going to keep doing that.”

“It’s not like we’ve never had sex in the kitchen before,” Hermione said. “Actually, you and _I_ have had sex in the kitchen too.”

“Stop that,” Draco said, leaving the stove for a minute so he could lean over the counter, tipping her chin up so she had to look at him. “You’re getting the stupid tone you get when you think I’m going to get mad about you and Harry. Or you think Harry’s going to get mad about you and me.”

“Sorry,” Hermione said. “It’s just a little, I don’t know. Weird on my end. I don’t get why you don’t care. I’m pretty sure I’d care.”

“You do realize we have significantly more sex without you than with you,” Draco said, dryly. “There’s probably an order of magnitude involved.”

“I’m also not dating either of you,” Hermione said. “It’s different.”

“I don’t worry about it,” Draco said. “He doesn’t either. So you probably shouldn’t bother being the only one who does.”

“This sometimes feels like a moving target,” Hermione said, dryly. “I’m lost when it comes to whatever rules the two of you have about it.” 

“We don’t,” Draco said. “Have rules, I mean.” He flipped the sausage. “Look, I know he’s not going anywhere. And it’s not like Harry’s the only one having sex with you. It’s a fair trade, we both get to do what we want with you without the other person getting overly worried about it. You and I have also had this conversation about five times, I think we should give it up.”

“Yeah, okay,” Hermione said, ruefully. “I’m going to stop complaining about good sex.”

“Good idea,” Draco said, with a grin. “If you want to go back to having sex with someone else, that’s fine, but the last time you didn’t have sex for a year, Harry had to come up with this demented plan involving threesomes to get you to stop rearranging all our bookshelves every Friday night.”

“You probably could have just used a stunning spell and left me in the front closet,” Hermione said.

“Sex is significantly more fun,” Draco said, adding sausage to a plate with a waffle and sliding it over. “Eat that and stop worrying.”

“I’m just saying that twice in three weeks is a little new,” Hermione said, reaching for the syrup.

“There also aren’t any rules about how often we’re allowed to have threesomes,” Draco said, dryly.

“I’m just trying to make sure we have functional boundaries,” Hermione said. “You know, the part where you two have a relationship and I have my own flat and should sleep there occasionally.”

Draco snorted. “Your cat isn’t going to forget you for being gone two nights in three weeks,” he said. “Okay, three, but one of those was you falling asleep on the couch.”

“Doesn’t count,” Hermione said, taking a bite of her waffle. “That’s a normal friend thing.”

“If you want an actual answer, I think Harry’s burning out some at work,” Draco said. “He wants to make sure everything else is stable. And just talking about it doesn’t really work for him.” He refilled her coffee cup. “Trust me, we’re having way more sex than normal too.”

“He said something kind of like that last night,” Hermione said. “Maybe you can talk him into taking some time off.”

“I suggested it,” Draco said. “He’s thinking about it. He’s usually good about knowing his limits.”

“These days,” Hermione said, amused. “I’m jealous that you got the adult version who knows when to call it.”

“I’m not the only one who gets to enjoy that benefit,” Draco said, dryly. “Eat more. You can stick around if you want, I have some work to get done. And I saw your bag, you’ve got about eight files in there.”

“I have to write a brief for Monday,” Hermione said, making a face. “Amongst other truly wonderful tasks I have to get through today.”

“Might as well stay here,” Draco said. “You can use Harry’s desk if you want.”

“I’m not really sure we should call it his desk,” Hermione said, thoughtfully. “I use it more than he does.”

“You do have more books in there too,” Draco said. “I’m willing to change the other person I’m referring to when I say ‘our office’ to you instead of Harry, he hasn’t set foot in there since last year.”

“We can go work in _our_ office,” Hermione said, laughing. “But I definitely need about two more waffles first.”

By the time evening rolled around, they’d given up and moved to the sofa. Draco was looking at blueprints.

“There’s literally no way to put a support in this wall,” Draco said. “Why does everyone have to have cabins in the Alps and villas in Spain? Couldn’t they just stick to drafty English mansions?”

“Then you wouldn’t have a job,” Hermione said. She was reading a book.

“Or my job would just consist of dealing with functional domiciles,” Draco muttered.

Hermione heard Harry shut the front door.

“You’re still here,” he said, sounding a little surprised.

“She’s usually here on Saturdays,” Draco said. “It’s not _that_ late.”

“Oh,” Harry said. “Yeah, it feels like about midnight.”

“You look like hell,” Draco said. “Come over here.”

“I also feel like hell,” Harry said, sounding exhausted. “Arson and dead house elves, it’s like someone picked all my favorite things.”

“Come here,” Draco repeated, gently.

Harry came over and leaned down to kiss him, resting his forehead against Draco’s for a moment. He shut his eyes.

“I’m glad you’re home,” Draco said. “I’m sorry you had to go through that.”

“You and me both,” Harry said. “I need a shower. I smell like I’ve been standing in a burning building all day. Or, you know, a burning building once it’s been doused in water and turned into ashy muck. That part was great too.”

“They couldn’t get it put out with spells?” Hermione said.

“It’s hard once they really get going,” Draco said. “It completely overwhelms the anti-fire wards.”

“Yeah,” Harry said. “That’s pretty much how it went.”

“Do you feel like dinner?” Draco said. Harry had crouched beside him.

“I should probably eat,” Harry said. “I missed breakfast and lunch. I’m somehow not very hungry, though.”

“I’ll figure something out,” Draco said. “Maybe more waffles.”

“Can I do anything?” Hermione said, holding out a hand.

“I don’t think so,” Harry said, but he came over and kissed her.

“Um,” Hermione said. “Harry, we’re not supposed to –“

“Oh, sorry,” he said, pulling back. “I didn’t mean –“

Draco was shaking his head at her from behind Harry.

“You know what, it’s okay,” Hermione said, sitting up so she could kiss him back. “I think the everything-ends-at-breakfast thing can be extended to breakfast tomorrow.”

Harry looked back over his shoulder at Draco. “Is that okay?”

“No, I hate the idea and I’m breaking up with you on the spot because there’s an exact sex quota with Hermione and you’ve just exceeded it by kissing her when you got home,” Draco said, dryly, nudging Harry with his foot. “By the way, kissing me also put you over our all-time sex quota too, so it’s good that we’re ending things. We could never sleep together again.”

Harry actually laughed. “Okay, okay,” he said.

“Would you take him upstairs and hose him down?” Draco said, with a grin. “I’ll work on dinner.”

“I might be willing,” Hermione said. “Maybe. If Harry asks nicely.”

“I’m going upstairs, take it or leave it,” Harry said. “Obviously, I’d kind of prefer if you’d take it.”

“I’m right behind you,” Hermione said.

She held open the door to the bedroom, letting Harry through. He was already pulling his jumper over his head.

“Do you want company?” she said.

“No, you should hang around in the bedroom while I shower,” Harry said, dryly. “That’s absolutely what I had in mind here.”

“I see how it is,” Hermione said, teasing. “You had a bad day at work and seeing me naked will cheer you up. It’s completely understandable.”

“Basically, yeah,” Harry said, coming over to kiss her. “My mood generally improves a lot when you take your clothes off.”

“Let’s go make use of the ridiculously oversized bath Draco put in just because he likes flaunting his architectural skills,” Hermione said. “You know how I feel about shower sex.”

“God, both of you,” Harry said. “There are two shower heads! There is literally no possibility of anyone getting shut out of the hot water. None.”

“That’s great if you just want to feel each other up,” Hermione said. “But _you_ always have a hidden agenda. The walls are freezing.”

“Fine, I’ll come get in there with you,” Harry said. “I want to rinse off in the shower first, though.”

Hermione left her clothes in the bedroom and filled the bath.

“Are you lurking in there under all the foam?” Harry said, laughing. “You and the damn bubble bath.”

“I like it,” Hermione said. “Get in here.”

“I’m not sure I can find you,” Harry said, climbing in. “No, I definitely can’t.”

“You’re just using that as an excuse to grab –“ Hermione said, amused.

“Oh, look, I found you,” Harry said, with a grin.

She reached up to get bubble bath on his nose.

“You’re about to regret that,” Harry said, flinging some of it at her.

After about half the bubbles had ended up on the floor – or in Harry’s hair – Hermione finally settled in against the side, breathless from laughter.

“Better?” she said.

“No, I think I inhaled soap,” Harry said, but he was still laughing.

“If you quit flailing around over there, I’ll wash your hair,” Hermione offered.

Harry came back to lean against her. “There’s some lemon stuff in the green bottle,” he said. “Is it horrible that I have shampoo whose sole purpose is getting terrible work smells out of my hair?”

“No, it’s practical,” Hermione said, reaching up to start working it through his hair. “But you’re allowed to be tired of having to use it.”

“I’m really tired,” Harry said, closing his eyes. “I told them I wasn’t coming in next week. There’s no way I can take point on this case. Or, honestly, any case.”

“I think that was a good call,” Hermione said, using her nails a little. Harry made a soft noise.

“I don’t know,” Harry said. “I worry that we’re all getting complacent. I see all these awful things, and I just… I don’t want them to happen to people I love.”

“Harry, it’s okay,” Hermione said, gently. “I’m not saying nothing bad could ever happen, but it usually doesn’t. Not to mention the fact that everyone you love is pretty well-equipped in terms of being able to take care of themselves.”

“I know,” Harry said. “And I know I’ll feel better in a few days.”

“It’ll also be little easier when you’re not operating on three hours of sleep and no food,” Hermione agreed, kissing his temple.

“Thanks for not caring,” Harry said, after a minute. “That I slipped up, I mean.”

“You didn’t,” Hermione said. “Draco’s right, there aren’t exactly rules. I’m okay with that.”

“There are kind of rules,” Harry said, ruefully. “I don’t think we’re supposed to do this two nights in a row.”

“Do you not want to?” Hermione said.

“No, I really want to,” Harry said, after a minute.

“It’s not a big deal,” Hermione said, shifting so she could press her thumbs hard against the back of his neck, stroking down. “Quit worrying, you usually love this.”

“I could probably relax if you kept doing that for the next few hours,” Harry said, suddenly sounding drowsy.

“I think we might need dinner at some point,” Hermione said. “But I can do this for a while. And then go from there, I can’t tell whether you want to fool around.”

“Give me five minutes of that and I’ll probably be very open to you using your hands for something else.”

Hermione laughed. “I’m game,” she said. “I’ll get you off, we can go eat waffles, and then we can have more sex tonight so you can convince yourself we’re all fine.” She kissed his shoulder. “Or we might be able to start dueling if you need reassurance that Draco and I are adequate at protecting ourselves.”

“I think I just want to have sex because I like sex,” Harry said, amused. “I’ve been stressed, but my hidden agenda here is pretty much having fun.”

“You’re wrecking everything,” Hermione said. “I was going to put rose petals all over and make Draco dig out the scented candles.”

“Thanks, I was getting hard and you just completely ruined it,” Harry said, dryly.

“Or you could tie me up,” Hermione said. “That way I really can’t go anywhere.”

“Never mind, problem solved,” Harry said.

“I guess now you’re going to tell me I have to fix it,” Hermione said, sliding a hand down his stomach.

“That’s definitely what I was going to say,” Harry said. “Really, completely what I was going to…”

By the time they’d both dried off and gotten dressed and Hermione had managed to herd Harry downstairs, Draco had gotten a decent start on dinner.

“Your plate’s right there, Harry,” Draco said. “I even put on a disgusting amount of syrup and butter so they’d get overly soggy.”

“I love you,” Harry said, sitting at the counter. “Thanks for cooking.”

“I was happy to,” Draco said, with a smile. “But you should eat, I know you’re starving.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t hungry until I smelled food,” Harry said. “Now I might not even bother with a fork.”

“I just got you clean, don’t get syrup all over yourself,” Hermione said, laughing.

“On second thought, that could be fun,” Draco said. “Just don’t get it all over the counter.”

“I guess I can be civilized,” Harry said, summoning utensils from the drawer. “It’s not like we couldn’t take it upstairs later. Syrup comes in a convenient, transportable bottle and everything.”

“Chocolate sauce trumps syrup if we’re doing it on purpose,” Hermione said.

“You might have a point,” Draco said, pushing a plate over to her.

“I should probably go make sure Crookshanks is alive after we eat,” Hermione said. 

“Just leave the floo open when you come back, he can come over,” Draco said. He glanced at Harry. “Just in case you want to hang around tomorrow.”

“Thanks, I will,” Hermione said. “I’ve got another stack of cases to review before they go to trial, I can work on those.”

“You two can get work done, I’m sleeping,” Harry said. “I might sleep for the next few days, honestly. I told them I wasn’t going in.”

“I figured that was going to happen,” Draco said, taking a bite of his waffle. He’d put jam on it, so he wasn’t bothering with a plate. “I’ll see what I can pass off to some of the junior associates.”

“You really don’t have to do that,” Harry said.

“Harry, that’s how we do this,” Draco said. “It’s how we’ve done this for years. You take off, I try to get some down time too.”

“Yeah, I know,” Harry said, with a smile. “You know I appreciate it. But you still don’t have to.”

“You two are really cute, but I need more bacon,” Hermione said.

“I need more food in general,” Harry said. He’d somehow cleared his entire plate. “Maybe about twice that amount this time.”

“Try not to die,” Draco said. “And leave some for the rest of us.”

Harry polished off another plate of food, and by the time Hermione went to put her shoes on, he was working on a third.

“I’ll be right back,” she said. “I can do the dishes, Draco.”

“I’ll help,” Harry said. “I don’t think we’re going to need to put away leftovers, though.”

She got files and a change of clothes, although she had plenty of things in their guest bedroom closet. Crookshanks had disappeared through the floo before she even finished getting everything into her bag.

“He claims to have nearly starved to death,” Harry said, when she came back. Draco was feeding Crookshanks a piece of bacon. “I forgot to tell you that I can speak to cats _and_ snakes now.”

“He still had food in his bowl,” Hermione said. “This whole pretending to be starving thing is a long con on his part, you both fall for it every time.”

“I bought him some tuna,” Draco said. “Or there might be some mice in the back garden, we can leave a window cracked.”

“And yet you keep telling me you hate cats,” Hermione said, going to start summoning the dishes to the sink.

“I do, but he’s okay,” Draco said. “He’s grown on me.”

“You wash, I’ll dry?” Harry said.

“I’ll go start a fire,” Draco said.

“I think you might have been hungry,” Hermione said, amused. She finished rinsing a glass and handed it to him.

“Maybe, yeah,” Harry said. “I also think I might need to pass out on the couch for a couple hours.” He nudged her with an elbow. “But if you two don’t wake me up for sex, I’m not going to be happy.”

“Maybe,” Hermione said, passing over a plate. “But you’ve been known to roll over and viciously elbow me when I try to start things.”

“I’m occasionally my own worst enemy, really,” Harry mused. “If I’m out cold, at least transfigure the sofa so I don’t end up wanting to die in the morning.”

“I promise,” Hermione said. “But I can finish these. Seriously.”

“Go lie down,” Draco said, coming back in. “I’ll take over. You’ve been up since three. I’m frankly surprised you’re still vertical.”

“I promise to do something nice for you two this week,” Harry said, with a yawn. “Maybe I can make that chicken thing you like.”

“ _Go_ ,” Draco said, summoning the plate away from Harry and sending it into the cabinet.

“Come on, cat,” Harry said. “You can sleep on top of me if you want.”

Crookshanks considered, then jumped down off the bar stool and followed him into the living room.

“You know, you could do these in about a minute,” Draco said. “I still don’t get it.”

Hermione laughed. “I don’t know,” she said. “We both grew up doing them by hand, it’s not like either of us could use magic when we were little or over the summer. And muggles don’t have house elves.”

“I get it with you,” Draco said. “You had functional parents. But I thought it was some type of strange muggle punishment for him.”

“He likes doing it with someone else,” Hermione said. She gave in and leaned back against the counter, letting the dishes start washing themselves in the sink. “I think it reminds him that he has his own kitchen and people who want to do dishes with him.”

“I don’t think about it that much, but I’m glad he has that,” Draco said. “Someone who understands all the muggle things, I mean.”

“I think he’s happy you try,” Hermione said. “You did learn to use a stove and a washing machine for him.”

“I’m still pretending it was for work,” Draco said. “I’m always surprised how many wizards want that sort of thing.”

“We’re all eleven when we go off to school, and it’s not like we never go home and live with muggles again,” Hermione said. “Besides, the real world has its upsides.”

“I’m grateful for pens,” Draco agreed, with a smile. “I’d lose my mind if I had to draw plans with a quill.”

“I like electricity,” Hermione said. “And central heating and air aren’t terrible either.”

“I think it took me about six months after I moved in to stop hating the whole… piece where he mixes magic and muggle things,” Draco admitted. “But I got used to it.”

“Coffee makers are a nice bonus,” Hermione said, with a grin. “Want to come play chess? I want to see how many more pieces I can get to defect if I play with my shirt off.”

“No, because I’m going to start wanting to defect too,” Draco said, laughing. “I know my limits.”

“Marjolet?” Hermione said. “I promise to keep my clothes on.”

“Cards it is,” Draco said. “Wine?”

“Have I ever said no to wine after dinner? Even once?” Hermione teased. “Quit asking and just give me some.”

“Okay, red or white?” Draco said, with a grin.

“White,” Hermione said. “I’ll find the deck if you get the drinks.”

“I should have gone with chess,” Draco said, a few hours later. “I think you’ve beaten me at every hand tonight.”

“You won two or three,” Hermione said. “Although if you keep refilling my glass, I’m going to think you’re trying a new strategy.”

“You may have noticed that I’m refilling mine just as often,” Draco said. “I have to cope with the pain of being this unlucky somehow.”

Hermione stood up, going to shake Harry’s shoulder. He mumbled something and rolled over.

“Not happening,” Draco said, amused.

“So much for that idea,” Hermione said, then transfigured the couch into a bed and summoned a blanket. Crookshanks promptly crawled underneath it when she covered Harry.

“Are we doing more of this?” Draco said, gesturing to the cards. “We could switch to chess.”

Hermione came over to sit next to him on the floor. “Was that a hint?” she said.

“Yes,” he said, reaching to brush her hair off her forehead. He’d leaned in a little. “Although I’d be okay with it if you wanted to skip the chess and just seduce me instead.”

“I’m not sure if you can actually be seduced,” Hermione teased. “Usually if I start walking toward the bedroom, you get on board.”

“Get naked, I’m all in,” Draco agreed. He slid a hand up to cup her face, leaning in to kiss her.

“I’m already all in,” Hermione said, laughing. “I’ve been all in all night. Harry started things upstairs and then got too hungry to finish them.”

“I’d say I would have done something about that if you’d mentioned it,” Draco said, kissing her again. “But I wouldn’t have, because I happen to know you like getting wound up and then waiting around for a while.”

“I do,” Hermione murmured, deepening the kiss. “But _I_ happen to know you like it when I’m really, really ready for you.”

“Yeah,” Draco said, swallowing. “Can you blame me? I like being able to tell how interested you are.”

Hermione laughed again, softly. “I’m always interested with you,” she said. “ _Always_.”

“I know,” Draco said, glancing down at her mouth. “I am too.”

“I can tell,” Hermione said, kissing him again. “If we go upstairs, maybe we could level the playing field on you knowing how turned on I am.”

“Is this you seducing me?” Draco said. “I think I like it.”

“It might be,” Hermione said, nipping his lower lip. “On the other hand, I wasn’t planning on begging any of the chess pieces to come upstairs and fuck me hard.”

“You’re not begging me either,” Draco murmured.

“Do you want me to say please?” Hermione said. “I will if you ask me to.”

“I do,” Draco said. “Only I think we’d better take this upstairs before I end up fucking you on the floor.”

“Mm,” Hermione said. “I could be into that.”

“You don’t want me too over the edge,” Draco said. “Then I’m not going to remember to make you wait to get off.”

“Okay, that’s a convincing argument,” Hermione said, stretching. “You go upstairs, I’m making a detour through the kitchen.”

“Why?” Draco said. “I’m pretty sure the stove’s off.”

“If I said I thought the chocolate syrup suggestion was a good one…”

“Yeah,” Draco said, thoughtfully. “That’s worth the wait.”

After, Hermione decided a shower wasn’t exactly the worst idea.

“You are a _mess_ ,” she said, laughing.

“You might be worse,” Draco said, with a grin. “Although I think the sheets have both of us beat.”

“If it had been just the chocolate or just the sex, we might have gotten away with cleaning charms,” Hermione said. “But we should probably start the washer before we actually go to bed.”

“Uh huh,” Draco agreed, pulling her in. “You have a little –“

“I have a lot,” Hermione said, dryly. “Maybe don’t miss and come in my hair next time.”

“People who don’t have messy sex are doing it wrong,” Draco said, solemnly. “But I might be able to help you out with that. Hand me the shampoo.”

Hermione passed it over. “So, I think getting Harry off the couch and into the actual bed probably isn’t happening.”

“Not a chance in hell,” Draco agreed. “Turn around, I can’t do this if you’re facing me.”

“Good luck, it’s probably going to try to eat you,” Hermione said, laughing.

“It usually does, I’ve gotten good at dodging,” Draco said. “He’ll show up at some point once people start driving to work and the traffic noise picks up.”

“At least the soundproofing spells up here are good, my flat’s always loud,” Hermione said. “I guess there’s exactly one benefit to living with an architect.”

“Just one,” Draco agreed, amused. “I can’t think of any others, though. You can rinse off.”

“Mm,” Hermione said, leaning back. “And we’re not fighting for hot water.”

“I’m not sure two showerheads counts as architectural genius,” Draco said. “Can you pass over the soap?”

“Okay, I –“ Hermione said, then started laughing when he pulled her in and slid his hands up her back. “I think slippery is an improvement over sticky, but you’d better not be trying to start anything.”

“Who says I’m starting anything?” Draco said. “I’m generously helping to clean up all the chocolate.” He leaned to nuzzle along her shoulder. “Getting to feel you up is merely a nice bonus.”

“I know you think I’m always game to go all night,” Hermione said. “But that’s when I’m having sex with you once a month. And you forgot that we’re in the shower.”

Draco laughed. “If I want to show off my newest design trick, will you promise not to tell Harry until I’m sure I can actually get out of work this week?”

“Why can’t I tell Harry?” Hermione said.

“Touch that rock beneath your showerhead,” Draco said. “The one that’s darker than all the others.”

“Is this going to turn into a sauna or a tropical rain forest or something?” Hermione said. “You like to show everyone else up.”

“Not exactly,” Draco said, then took a step in so he was backing her up against the wall.

“Hey, no angling for shower sex and pushing me out of the hot water,” Hermione said.

“Quit complaining and back up,” Draco said, with a grin. He’d stepped in again.

“Oh,” Hermione said. “Wait, did you just heat up the wall?”

“I did,” Draco said. “That’s why you can’t tell Harry. I’ll never be able to get to work on time, he’s just going to end up in the shower with me. My excuse that the walls are too cold isn’t going to keep working.”

“Mm,” Hermione said, wrapping her arms around his neck to kiss him. “Have you been holding out on me? I think you might secretly not hate shower sex. You’re supposed to be on my side.”

“I never have any because I hate getting cold,” Draco said. “But I solved that problem.” He kissed her. “Maybe we can try it some other time.”

“You’re interested in trying it now,” Hermione teased. “I can tell.”

“You just said you were tired,” Draco said, kissing her temple.

“There’s kind of a point where my body calls it,” Hermione said. “Which I thought was after last time, but you’re very attractive when you’re dripping wet.” She grinned. “And the heat feels good.”

“Oh, so now you’re on team shower sex too,” Draco said, amused. “Should we figure out mechanics here?”

“We’re definitely not doing the thing where you hold me up the entire time,” Hermione said. “I’m not sure that actually works.”

“Turn around,” Draco said, giving her room and then stepping in against her back. “I think that might do it.”

“You might have to pin me a little,” Hermione said, thoughtfully.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d be starting to think you got off on that,” Draco murmured.

Hermione turned to glance at him over her shoulder. “If you haven’t figured that out by now, we really need to talk.”

“Later,” Draco said. “I’m about to be really busy.”

They finally actually managed to get out of the shower, and Draco changed the sheets while she checked on Harry. He was still asleep, and Crookshanks apparently didn’t appreciate being bothered.

“I got him another blanket,” Hermione said, tossing Draco’s dressing gown over a chair and climbing into bed. He was already under the blankets. “Crookshanks is pretending to be a hat, so that ought to help.”

“Thanks for making sure he didn’t roll off onto the floor or something,” Draco said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. “You know him. He probably wouldn’t wake up.”

Hermione laughed. “If that happened, we’d have an outraged cat up here with us,” she said, snuggling in against his side. “I thought you’d be asleep, though.”

“I’ll be more asleep than Harry in about five minutes,” Draco said, with a yawn. “But I wanted to ask you something.”

“Nope,” Hermione said. “I’m not having more sex tonight.”

Draco snorted. “You wore me out, that’s not it.”

“Okay?” Hermione said.

“I know it’s not the usual thing,” Draco said. “But do you maybe want to stay here this week? I think it might be good for Harry.”

“I can be around after work,” Hermione said. “I don’t want to sleep in the guest room all week, though.”

“I really wasn’t thinking we’d stash you in the guest room,” Draco said, dryly. “I know it’s… strange, on the boundaries front, but it’s not like it’s going to be a normal week. And I think Harry might need you to be here.”

“I just don’t want to get into the middle of your relationship and cause problems,” Hermione said. “That’s not fair to either of you.”

“I don’t worry about my relationship with Harry,” Draco said. “Ever. I’m not saying it was always like that, but we’re good enough together these days that I don’t. He’s allowed to need other people around. So am I, for that matter.”

“I know,” Hermione said. “That wasn’t exactly what I meant. What if he gets used to it and then, I don’t know, I meet someone and want to stop doing this? It’s one thing if it’s just something we do for fun, but if I start mixing in trying to make Harry feel more secure through sex, it’s going to be a mess.”

“I think you and Harry know about four hundred ways of making each other feel stable that have nothing to do with sex,” Draco said. “We both know that. But physical affection is easier for him than anything else. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to go the easy way for as long as it makes sense. It’s not like you two don’t have anything else to go on if you start seeing someone or stop wanting to mess around with us.”

“You’re probably right,” Hermione said, finally. “Can I check in with him, though?”

“That goes without saying,” Draco said.

“It could be good,” Hermione said, laughing. “I mean, I’m not promising I can have this much sex every night, but more than once a month might be okay. And actual meals after work are an incentive.”

“I can make that happen,” Draco said, with another yawn. “But I can’t stay up for any more talking, I’m about half an hour past the point where I usually fall over.”

“You’re not allowed to sleep on any of my internal organs,” Hermione said, poking his side.

“Uh huh,” Draco agreed, and promptly rolled over to sprawl out halfway on top of her.

She woke up when Harry started to climb into bed on her other side; it was just past dawn.

“Nope,” she said, drowsily. “You have to take middle. Draco’s turning into a devil’s snare.”

Harry laughed softly. “He’s so bad about that,” he said. “But now I feel weird if no one’s trying to smother me in my sleep.”

“I’m about to make you very happy,” Hermione said, wriggling out from under Draco and making room so Harry could climb over her and take her spot.

“Thanks for letting me sleep,” he murmured. “I was exhausted. I’m _still_ exhausted.”

“No one has to be up, you can sleep as late as you want,” Hermione said, pulling the blankets back up and putting an arm over him. “I’ll be here.”

“I know,” Harry said, kissing her forehead. “I’m glad.”

“Draco made this weird suggestion,” she said, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair. “He said I should stay over while you’re taking a break from work. I think I might be okay with it. But I’m not sure how you feel about it, so I thought I’d ask.”

“What kind of staying?” Harry said.

“I think it’s the kind where I sleep in here,” Hermione said, nudging her nose against his. “You can think about it if you want.”

“I’ll let you know after breakfast,” Harry said, thoughtfully. “But you can probably put me down as a tentative yes.”

“No pressure,” Hermione said, with a smile. “Just tell me what you want.”

“There’s never any pressure with you,” Harry said, smiling back. “Go back to sleep, though. I’ll keep you safe from Draco.”

“Good plan,” Hermione said, and was asleep again before she heard Harry’s response.

Harry and Draco were both still asleep when she went to shower again the next morning, since Draco hadn’t actually gotten all the chocolate out of her hair. When she came back, though, they were definitely more awake. They’d gotten tangled up in the blankets, and Harry was underneath Draco and laughing about something.

“Do you want to come back to bed?” Harry said, when he saw her.

“I want coffee,” Hermione said. “I might even go crazy and get breakfast started.”

“We’ll be down at some point,” Draco said. “Eventually.”

“Fortunately for you, I’m good at stasis spells,” Hermione said. “Take your time.”

She was scrambling a second pan of eggs when Harry came downstairs.

“Are you actually reading a book and cooking at the same time?” he said.

“Maybe,” Hermione said, absently. “I haven’t burned anything yet, don’t worry.”

“Only you,” Harry said, fondly. He poured himself a cup of coffee. “Are we doing something today or are you two locking yourself in the office and doing paperwork?”

“I have more case files,” Hermione said, finally closing her book. “But last week was brutal, I don’t actually think I want to interact with more people than strictly necessary. I was going to stay home and work on my own.”

“Do you want a break?” Harry said. “No one’s going to mind if you go back to your flat for a while. Or Draco and I could go play Quidditch for a couple hours.” He swiped some of the bacon. “I’m going to go ahead and guess that you don’t want to come with us.”

“I’m never letting you put away the laundry again,” Draco said, coming into the kitchen. “It took me five minutes to find two matching socks.”

“And yet, you forget and make me do it every other week,” Harry said. “You should really have figured it out by now.”

“You usually do it while I’m at work before I can stop you,” Draco said. “It’s almost as if you want to do your share of the chores.”

“That really doesn’t sound like me,” Harry said, thoughtfully. “Are you sure you didn’t secretly get a house elf?”

“A house elf would be much better at putting away clothes,” Draco said, laughing.

“Here, eat this before Harry takes all the bacon,” Hermione said, handing over Draco’s plate and passing another to Harry.

“I was going to leave some,” Harry said, but he stole another piece of Draco’s plate. “Probably.”

“Uh huh,” Draco said, around a mouthful of eggs. He moved over a seat so Harry couldn’t reach his plate.

“No one believes you,” Hermione said, going to sit on his other side. “Don’t even think about it.”

“So, about this whole twenty years of friendship thing,” Harry said. “I’m seriously reconsidering.”

“Let’s definitely call it,” Hermione agreed.

“Speaking of,” Harry said. “I think you should come over this week if you want. But only if you want to, not if you’re just doing it to make me feel better. I’m okay. I just need a few nights of sleep and not dealing with idiotic criminals doing horrible things.”

“I’m not staying for you,” Hermione said, laughing. “I just miss real vegetables, I’ve been living on takeout this month because of work. And I like having an excessive amount of sex in one night and none the rest of the month, but I don’t know, I’m game for mixing it up.”

“That seems fair,” Harry said, amused. “I might even be willing to cook a meal with more than one kind of vegetable.”

“We could do stir fry,” Draco said. “Or soup.”

“Actual cooking and sex for you, sleep for me,” Harry said. “I don’t know what Draco wants.”

“Sleep,” Draco said. “And not having to deal with anyone who wants tacky marble columns or ponds in the middle of their foyer.”

“No amount of shagging and food is going to make up for work this week,” Hermione said. “Wilson just went out on maternity leave, so I have twice as much work. And I think there are at least three days where I’m supposed to be in two places at once.”

“You got pretty good at that third year,” Harry said. “Maybe get a departmental time turner.” 

“So illegal,” Hermione said. “So not happening.”

“Maybe this was a good idea,” Harry said. “I’m getting the feeling this would have been one of those weeks where we wouldn’t have seen you until Saturday.”

“Real dinner seems like a good reason not to stay in my office until midnight,” Hermione said.

“Maybe don’t do that,” Harry said, standing up and leaning over to kiss her forehead. “We’ll go play Quidditch so you can have some time alone.”

“I really could just go over to my flat,” Hermione protested.

“We’d probably have gone anyway,” Harry pointed out.

“We’d definitely have gone anyway, it’s nice out,” Draco said. “I’ll start the fire again before we go if you want, though.”

“Thanks,” Hermione said. “Maybe I can finish this before dinner.”

“We’ll figure it out,” Harry said. “I’m going to go get actually dressed and find everything.”

“His strategy in not getting dressed before was to stick me with the dishes,” Draco said, mildly. “I just want you to know that I saw through that one.”

“It only takes you about two minutes, quit complaining,” Harry said.

“I’m going to go get started,” Hermione said, refilling her coffee cup.

A few hours later, she woke up to Harry touching her shoulder.

“Hey,” he murmured. “The couch isn’t a good idea for naps. Take it from me.”

“I didn’t mean to,” Hermione said, drowsily. “Tax cases are really boring.”

Harry laughed. “Come up and take a real nap with me,” he suggested. “Draco went for a run.” He rolled his eyes. “Apparently three hours of Quidditch weren’t enough exercise.”

“I got through these faster than I thought,” Hermione said, with a yawn. “That’s tempting.”

“Don’t make me carry you,” Harry said. “I’ll probably run you into the door frame.”

“I’m going to come upstairs just so you don’t try that,” Hermione said.

“That was the plan,” Harry said. “It’s good to know it worked.”

Hermione followed him upstairs and left her jeans on one of the chairs before she climbed into the bed.

“I think I have double vision from staring at reports,” she said.

“Then I’m glad I talked you into a break,” Harry said, getting in on the other side. “Should I stay over here?”

“I don’t like to sleep touching people, that doesn’t mean I don’t like to fall asleep touching people,” Hermione said, with a smile over her shoulder. “You know that.”

“Just checking,” Harry said. “Sometimes you like having half of the bed to yourself.”

“I’ll just elbow you if I hate it,” Hermione said. “But I’ve had Draco stuck to me the last two nights, you’re a lot less annoying.”

“I’d say thanks for putting up with it,” Harry said, “but he doesn’t actually give you a choice.”

“Not really,” Hermione said. She snuggled back against him. “I guess since you’re used to it, I can use you for body heat without feeling guilty.”

“Go for it,” Harry agreed.

They slept for most of the afternoon, and Hermione finally finished the rest of her files after dinner while Harry and Draco played cards.

“Well, at least that’s done,” Hermione said, after she’d gotten everything back in her bag. “My assistant isn’t going to be happy, she has to fill out about ten finance reports tomorrow.”

“I hate those, and I definitely don’t have an assistant,” Harry said. “You should be feeling sorry for me instead.”

“You’re on vacation, my sympathy is limited,” Hermione said. “Although speaking of that, I have to be up really early. You two can stay up if you want, but I should go to bed.”

“I’m reasonably willing to come upstairs now,” Harry said, thoughtfully.

“He’s angling for sex, just in case you missed that,” Draco said, dryly.

“I know, Harry’s not exactly subtle,” Hermione said. “As long as you promise not to keep me up all night.”

“Normal sex, not ridiculous all-night threesome sex,” Harry said. “Got it.”

“I wasn’t really thinking we’d leave Draco in the living room,” Hermione said, laughing.

“Shockingly, we have plenty of sex where we both have to be up for work,” Draco said, amused. “I think we can handle it.”

The next morning when her alarm spell went off, she climbed out of bed, taking Harry’s robe so she could go get dressed in the guest room.

“I’ll go make coffee while you get ready,” Harry said, yawning. He was untangling himself from Draco, who was still completely asleep.

“You don’t need to do that,” Hermione whispered. “Really.”

“Too late, I’m already up,” Harry said. “I’ll see you downstairs.”

When she finished getting dressed and went into the kitchen, Harry had a cup of coffee set out and was scrambling eggs.

“I was going to get food on the way,” Hermione said. “You’re supposed to be catching up on sleep.”

“I’ll probably go back to bed,” Harry said, sliding the eggs onto a plate and levitating toast over. “But I thought hot food might be nice for a change. And Draco and I made you lunch last night after you went to bed, it’s in your bag.”

“Seriously?” Hermione said. “You’d better be careful, I’ll get used to it and then I’m never leaving.”

“If it means you eat lunch on a regular basis, I’m okay with it,” Harry said.

“Said the pot to the kettle,” Hermione said.

“You can make me lunch in exchange, and then everyone gets to eat,” Harry said.

“I’ll be home at some point,” Hermione said. “I’m trying for dinner, but save something for me if that doesn’t happen.”

“No, we’re going to eat all of it,” Harry said, coming to kiss her. “Owl if you’re going to be really late.”

“I will,” Hermione said, pulling him in close so she could kiss him back. “Tell Draco good morning for me.”

“I think it’s going to be more like good afternoon, but I’ll be sure to pass along that you don’t hate him,” Harry said, with a grin. “He’ll appreciate that.”

“I don’t hate you either,” Hermione said. “Just in case you weren’t sure.”

“I had my doubts,” Harry said, solemnly. “It’s so good to know they were unfounded.”

“Go back to bed before Draco starts trying to cuddle with the cat,” Hermione said, laughing. “That’s not going to end well.”

“Have a good day,” Harry said. “Or at least a tolerable one. Maybe one where no one dies.”

“I’ll do my best,” Hermione said.

No one died, but by the time Hermione actually escaped the last meeting, it was late enough that most of the lights were off at the house; someone had left a light on in the living room, but Harry and Draco had definitely gone to bed.

They’d left a plate of food for her under a stasis spell, and she finished it before she went upstairs. The light under Harry and Draco’s door was still on.

“At least you made it before midnight,” Draco said, dryly. “I think you’ve got like fifteen minutes to spare.”

He was reading something, and Harry was tucked in against his side, almost completely under the blankets. Draco had an arm around him.

“I’ll keep it down, but I really need a shower,” Hermione said. “Stuff a pillow over Harry’s head or something.”

“No, I’m awake,” Harry said, unburying himself. “I mean, sort of awake. Maybe like thirty percent awake.”

“He’s weird and likes to cuddle before bed, I hate it, so we have a compromise position,” Draco said, dryly. “I get a book.”

“You just like to cuddle _after_ you fall asleep,” Hermione said, archly.

“Don’t bother, I’ve made this argument before, it doesn’t work,” Harry said. “Did you get dinner? We left it out for you.”

“I did, thanks,” Hermione said. “I was starving.”

She started to unbutton her blouse, stepping out of her skirt.

“I could –“ Harry said.

“Nope,” Draco said. “Let her take a shower in peace. If you’re nice, she might let you switch to attaching herself to her.”

“I’m only taking five minutes,” Hermione said. “Then I’m getting into bed and refusing to be upright until tomorrow.”

“I’m going for twenty percent awake,” Harry said. “Poke me when you get back.”

“I’m not doing this for six months until Wilson comes back from leave,” Hermione said, climbing into bed with a yawn. “They have to find a second prosecutor or I’m quitting and taking a vacation in Greece.”

“I’ll come with,” Harry said, rolling over to wrap an arm around her. “Draco can come too, he likes Greece.”

“I haven’t been there,” Hermione said. “But there are beaches and no Ministry, that’s good enough for me.”

“I’m sorry you had a bad day,” Harry murmured. He shifted to kiss her, warmer and a little deeper than usual.

“It’s nice not to have to go back to my flat and relight the radiator to try to get it warm,” Hermione said, wrapping a leg around him. “Am I stealing you from Draco?”

“No, I’m encouraging you to take him,” Draco said, without looking up from his book. “Think of it as reallocation.”

“Want to go to sleep?” Harry said, kissing her again.

“I can switch to a spell if you want the light off,” Draco offered.

“You’re really not kissing me like you want to go to sleep, Harry,” Hermione said, laughing softly.

“I happen to like kissing,” Harry said. “Or, you know, whatever you’re interested in. Including sleeping.”

“Who has this much sex?” Hermione said. “I don’t even think I had sex four nights in a row when I was _dating_ people.”

“Hey, it was on your list,” Harry said, nudging his nose against hers. “Sex and vegetables. I’m just making sure you’re happy.”

“We also just have this much sex, before you start worrying that he’s only trying to be nice,” Draco said, amused. “I like it. He likes it. It’s not that unheard of.”

“I think we’re also both perfectly capable of recalibrating for you,” Harry said, nuzzling her neck. “I can get back to mostly asleep in about thirty seconds if you want, don’t worry.”

“Come kiss me and I’ll decide later,” Hermione said. “Unless you’re going to get mad if I fall asleep.”

Harry snorted. “I’m not planning on staying wildly awake,” he said. “You don’t have to either.”

“You’re not really selling me on this,” Hermione said, but she pulled him over on top of her.

“It’s low key,” Harry said. “I like that.” He considered. “Although I don’t actually know if you do, we haven’t really fooled around like this.”

“Try me,” Hermione suggested, kissing him.

“Draco?” Harry said.

“Pass,” Draco said. “I’ll keep reading.” He glanced over at them. “No promises on not watching if it gets interesting, though.”

“You two and books,” Harry said, burying his hands in her hair as he kissed her again. “A thing I’m literally never going to understand.”

“Shh,” Hermione said, and kissed him again.

“Do you want to –“ Harry said, a while later. He kissed her instead of finishing his sentence.

“Yes,” Hermione said. “Do you?”

“I’m supposed to be the one who asks stupid questions,” Harry murmured, taking her face in his hands.

“You can just –“ Hermione said.

“Like that?” Harry said, with a grin against her mouth.

“Mm,” Hermione said, a little drowsily. “Mind-reading isn’t allowed in bed.”

“Sorry I know you too well,” Harry said.

“I’m not,” Hermione said, running her hands up his back. His face was only a few inches from hers, and he’d lost his glasses at some point.

“Me either, actually,” Harry said. He sounded almost thoughtful.

“Quit thinking about things,” Hermione said.

“Yeah, okay,” Harry said, voice going low.

“Oh,” Hermione said, “ _oh_ -“

Later, Harry had apparently decided he was sleeping on top of her instead of Draco. He’d moved for about two minutes so they could clean up, then promptly gone back to sprawling out over her.

“Mm,” he said, drowsily. “Would you call it with the book and get over here, Draco?”

“I stopped reading a while ago, I don’t actually have that kind of will power,” Draco said, amused, but he reached to turn off the light.

“Ow,” Hermione said, laughing, when Draco kneed her. “You can’t both be on top of me.”

“Yes, we can,” Draco said. He leaned in to kiss her a moment later once their eyes had adjusted to the dark. “You were the one complaining about your radiator. You’ll never get cold over here.”

“I’m not sure that’s worse than being crushed,” Hermione said.

“Okay, okay,” Harry said, rolling off and getting in against her side instead. “Better?”

“I’m not going to have an escape route when Draco gets in on it,” Hermione said, with a grin. “But it’s okay.”

“You’re getting used to it,” Harry said. “That means I can foist him on you half the time.”

Draco hit Harry with a pillow. “Careful, I’m going to give her my half of the bed and come take yours.”

“Do you actually want his half to yourself?” Harry said, kissing her. “I can take middle.”

“This is way too complicated,” Hermione said, laughing. “I’m going to sleep.”

Harry got up and made her breakfast again, and she actually got back early enough that no one had started dinner.

“It’s only six, should I suspect that you’re polyjuiced?” Draco said. He was playing a game of solitaire, and it sounded like both red Queens were very unhappy with their placement at the bottom of the deck.

“I wouldn’t blame you,” Hermione said. “But I just left on time. I’m not doing all the extra work, they’re just going to have to find a second person.”

“I like it,” Draco said. “You missed Harry by about two minutes, he went to the store.”

“Are you sure that was a good call?” Hermione said, going to pour herself a cup of tea. Draco usually had some out.

“I gave him a list,” Draco said. “That way I can look very disappointed if he forgets anything.”

“Just take the dinner ingredients and send him back,” Hermione suggested.

Draco laughed. “He’s really good with home repairs and the garden,” he said. “But I’m starting to think I should stop asking him to go buy food.”

“Starting?” Hermione said.

“You might have a point there,” Draco said. “Could we talk about something?”

“Is everything okay?” Hermione said.

“Everything’s fine,” Draco said, with a smile. “Don’t start worrying.”

“Maybe lead with that next time,” Hermione said, coming to sit on the sofa.

“I have to apologize,” Draco said. “Because I wasn’t totally honest about this whole asking you to stick around all week thing.”

“You know I’ll go home if you want me to,” Hermione said, quietly. “Honestly. And if the sex is an issue…”

“Sort of the opposite,” Draco said, wryly. “I didn’t ask for Harry, or for you. I asked for me.”

“Okay?” Hermione said.

“I wanted to see how I felt about this if it was a full-time thing instead of once a month,” Draco said. “I thought I might mind more or, I don’t know, get jealous.”

“Hey, you said you were okay with it,” Hermione said. “I’m not saying you can’t change your mind, but it’s not exactly fair to set me up to make you unhappy. I’m not doing that.”

“Not like that,” Draco said. “I just wanted to see if it worked. I thought it was probably going to, and it does. So if you want –“ He paused. “There’s literally no delicate way to ask if someone else wants in on your relationship, sorry. But if you want this whole thing with the three of us to be more than just sex, we can do that.”

“Hold on, what?” Hermione said.

“Dating,” Draco said, dryly. “Do you want it to be dating instead of just having sex once a month?”

“I –“ Hermione said, startled. “But I’m not in love with you. I don’t think… I’m not even sure about Harry.”

“I’m not in love with you either,” Draco said. “But I could be. If I quit trying not to blur the line between friendship and sex, it’ll happen.”

“Does Harry know you’re asking?” she said, finally.

“Of course he knows,” Draco said, sounding a little amused. “I’m not really in the habit of making important relationship decisions on my own.”

Hermione finally laughed. “Did he volunteer to go grocery shopping so he could bail on this conversation?”

“He didn’t want you to feel pressured if it was him asking,” Draco said. “And I was thinking I’d have time after he went to bed, neither of us thought you’d be home.” He laughed too. “But basically, yes.”

“What does he think about it?” Hermione said.

“That we should ask, but that it’s no big deal if you don’t want to,” Draco said.

“I think asking might be a big deal for him,” Hermione said.

“Yeah,” Draco said. “But there’s no pressure. You should figure out what you want.”

“What’s it supposed to look like?” Hermione said. “If we do this.”

“I don’t know,” Draco said. “You’re usually the one managing long-range plans, we’re both terrible at that. But it’s whatever you want. You can keep your flat if you want, or you could move over here when you’re ready. You could probably use the enormous part of the closet we’re not doing anything with because Harry owns about six shirts.” He grinned. “I guess I might be willing to let the cat move in too.”

“What about the… relationship rules?” Hermione said. “With you and Harry?”

“That’s why I wanted to try it first,” Draco admitted. “I was worried I’d feel like there was less room for me and Harry. But I don’t.”

“That might be different if it’s more than four days,” Hermione said.

“I think it probably will,” Draco said. “But I thought about it. Is there anything Harry could do to get rid of you?”

“No,” Hermione said. “I mean, I’m not going to be very happy if he decides to be an evil dictator, but I’d probably just spend a lot of time trying to talk him out of it. I’d miss him too much.”

“Yeah,” Draco said. “I feel about the same way about him. We’re solid. So that actually means you and I are the only part that’s worth worrying about.”

“Are we?” Hermione said, considering. “I don’t actually think so. We’re good together. And we both talk about things when they go wrong or get uncomfortable.” She laughed. “That _might_ put us ahead of anything involving Harry.”

“The whole thing might require a lot of adjusting,” Draco said. “But I’m not actually worried it won’t work.”

“I’m not either,” Hermione said, then paused. “But I’m not sure how I feel about a long-term secret relationship.”

“What?” Draco said, then shook his head. “Oh. I forgot. Muggles are different. Harry brought that up too.”

“Different?” Hermione said.

“There aren’t that many wizards,” Draco said, dryly. “So if it’s a thing that might, theoretically, lead to more wizards or to making sure all the kids get raised in wizarding homes, no one cares about it. Three people is normal.” He laughed. “Did you completely miss Padma and Parvati and Penelope Clearwater and their overly cute family Christmas cards?”

“Wait, really?” Hermione said.

“I think they’re just both dating Penelope,” Draco said. “But they live together. They’ll probably get married at some point. No one cares if you marry two people. Someone married a cauldron last year, honestly. And centaurs and mermaids are fair game.”

“Oh,” Hermione said. “I guess that does come up in books, I just assumed it wasn’t that common.”

“Harry claims muggles care about people being gay,” Draco said, dryly. “That’s _really_ strange.”

“I knew no one cared about that here,” Hermione said. “But he was weird when you first started dating, I had to make him hypothetically ask about ten people before he believed me. Ron thought he was insane.”

“I think he was more concerned about my former Death Eater status, yes,” Draco said, dryly. “And anyway, we just pay off the Prophet these days to not run idiotic stories about Harry’s personal life. They have to stick to his heroic rescues of children from burning buildings.”

“He really adores that,” Hermione said.

“You can’t have everything,” Draco said. “But my point was that no one needs to keep anything a secret.”

“I think there might be a reason I haven’t exactly been trying to date anyone,” Hermione said, after a minute. “The sex is a little bit of a hard act to follow.” She laughed softly. “Actually, all the time I spend with you two is the hard act to follow. I don’t want to give that up for someone else.”

“I think you don’t have to,” Draco said. “I know it’s a jump from coming over after work half the time and having sex sometimes to dating, but it’s not _that_ different.”

“I should probably keep my place for a while,” Hermione said. “While we’re getting used to it.” She leaned in against Draco’s side. “But I’ll give in and let you fix all the drafts and terrible soundproofing so we can go over there sometimes.”

“I’m transfiguring your bed,” Draco said, mildly. “I can’t fit in a double even if there’s no one else involved.”

“Your trial run might not have been the worst idea,” Hermione said, amused. “If I’m staying over here, I really need my own sink. And more blankets, they all end up on your side because Harry steals them.”

“I don’t know, a sink is a lot to ask,” Draco said, with a grin. “Next thing you’re going to be asking for drawers too. And space for your toothbrush.”

“I just sort of took that already,” Hermione admitted. “Harry’s using exactly one drawer.”

She heard the front door.

“I didn’t forget a single thing on your list,” Harry said. “I think I even got the right color bell peppers –“ He was hanging up his coat; the grocery bags sent themselves into the kitchen.

“I boycotted staying at work until eleven in favor of eating dinner with you,” Hermione said, laughing. “So you’d better not have forgotten anything. Come over here.”

“I didn’t forget anything,” Harry said, coming to sit on the couch. “But whether I got the right kind of everything remains to be seen.”

“I’m going to go find out how badly we’re going to need to improvise on dinner,” Draco said, dryly. “And before you try to drag me into the pantry to find out, I already talked to her. She wants to.”

“You do?” Harry said, looking surprised.

“Someone come in and give me a hand when you’re done figuring that out,” Draco said. “I’ll let you talk.”

“Okay,” Harry said. He’d gone still.

“Let me guess, you thought he was doing it later so you didn’t have a chance to get anxious about it yet,” Hermione teased.

“Not so much,” Harry said, ruefully. “Are we –“

“I know exactly how much you hate talking,” Hermione said, leaning in to kiss him. “I want to be with you both. I think that covers it.”

“Sorry I got Draco to do it by himself,” Harry said, after a minute. “I’m so bad at this, and I didn’t want you to get the wrong idea.”

“It’s okay,” Hermione said, climbing over into his lap so she could wrap her arms around his neck. “I’m not great at plenty of things. I wouldn’t have gotten the wrong idea, I trust you –“ She reached to cup his face, brushing her thumb over his cheekbone. “But it was okay to need Draco to do it.”

“Thanks,” Harry said, wrapping an arm around her waist. He leaned his forehead against hers. “You really want to?”

“I do,” Hermione said, with a smile. “You ruined me for sex with other people, honestly. And who else is going to beat me at chess?”

“Definitely not me,” Harry said, laughing softly. “But I’ll make you breakfast.”


End file.
